The Gunners came out on top in a mouth-watering pre-season friendly in Los Angeles on Wednesday, making it a fine end to their pre-season tour of the United States. Arsenal had only beaten Barcelona once in their last nine attempts in the Champions League, but triumphed in an eight-goal thriller at SoFi Stadium.
Declan Rice was a surprise absentee from Mikel Arteta’s matchday squad, but his omission did not prove costly in the end. Arsenal faced a Barcelona side who were embarking on their first run-out of the summer and have been hit by an illness in the squad, leading to the cancellation of their meeting with Juventus. Ilkay Gundogan played his first minutes since signing from Manchester City, with Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha twice giving them the lead in the first half, though those efforts were cancelled out each time by Bukayo Saka - who also missed a penalty - and Kai Havertz.
Leandro Trossard then notched a stylish second-half brace before two goals in a minute to cap off a spectacular game that was delayed by 36 minutes, with a Ferran Torres strike followed by Fabio Vieira’s rocket. Follow Arsenal vs Barcelona reaction live below via our dedicated match blog!
